Terms

S Symbolism

S Symbolism

S is Hebrew letter 21 almost at the end of the early 22 letter alphabet. In Greek, forms of S were near the beginning of the alphabet, as letter 6, which in turn is also linked with F. Letters I and Y are also linked with S. To understand these seeming contradictions we need to go back to Chinese Astronomy where we find 10 stems and 12 branches. Stem 5 - Stem 6 are linked with Branch 5 - Branch 6 or Dragon - Snake (Chen -Si). The name of Branch 6, Si = 巳 = Snake gives us the English number six (6), the Latin number, sex, Spanish seis etc.

Where Branch 5 - Branch 6 occur in a wheel of the year varies depending on the numer of divisions. In the cas below, with 12 Zodiac animals we see that the dragon (chen) of branch 5 marks the end of a descent from heaven and that the snake (si) of branch 6 marks the beginning of a return towards heaven.

Branch 5 - Branch 6

Dragon - Snake

This sixth stem that leads to a 6th branch leads also to a letter 6, Chi (in old Chinese

Huang Ti) which, in addition to being a snake is probably the astronomical Hydra, which is called the Adisesha in Sanskrit linked with Nakshatra 9 (and formerly Nakshatra 7):

It also helps explain why early Greek has letters Sigma, Stigma, Digamma and Zeta:

Greek Stigma Digamma Zeta

Or why old Slavic has Selo:

Indeed it helps explain a trend to find S - $ or S - S Reversed e.g.:

Oak pentacle Pentacle of Shadows

Alternatively this occurs as:

Letter 6 - Letter 7

Greek Letter 6 Greek Letter 7

Stigma - Zeta

ζ

So Zeta (Copticum) Vau - Zai (Aethiopicum)

Alternatively this occurs as:

Letter 8 - Letter 9

dzealo, zemle (Archaic Romanian)

dz - z

Dzealo Zemle (Glagolitic Bamberg)

8. Dzelo 9. Zemlja (Early Cyrillic)

These examples suggest that a structure established in Chinese Astronomy helps to explain basic elements of Western alphabets.